Imagined
by AmbassadorPrime
Summary: Caprica Times reporter Serina Boxman had no way of knowing that what seemed like just another assignment (report on the decommissioning of the Battlestar Galactica) would end up saving her life. She had no way of knowing that, after the End of the Colonies, she'd get to see her son again and she had no way of knowing that she'd fall in love. Apollo/OC


**Disclaimer****: The author does not own ****_Battlestar Galactica. _****All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. All of the original characters and such are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise, and does not profit from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Author's Note****: While working on my other story ****_Night Flight_****, I was looking at different pages in the ****_Battlestar Galactica_**** Wikki and ended up writing this. It involves Serina but I've edited out the ****_Night Flight _****to give it a more canon flow. I haven't abandoned ****_Night Flight_****, but have reached a serious writer's block. So I'm trying something else for awhile. Please enjoy!**

* * *

**"Night One"**

_Caprica Times_ reporter Serina Boxman dropped into her seat with a sigh just as the Eversun starliner departed from Caprica. She had known ahead of time that the Times was sending her (and another reporter, McManus, who Serina didn't particularly like) to the decommissioning of the Battlestar _Galactica, _and had intended to go to bed early the night before and get a full night's rest for once.

Instead, her sister had showed up with the complete first season of _Aphrodite the Beautiful, _enough sweets and alcohol to make sure they were both in comas by morning, and tears in her eyes. The Boxman women never had much luck with men. Serina's divorce, her sister's three, and their mother's _eight_ made that fact startlingly clear. Serina had sent her son Boxey to bed and comforted her sister as best she could.

The reporter closed her eyes and leaned back in her rather comfortable chair. The inside of the passenger compartment was kept cool and the noise level was a dull murmur. She opened her eyes a moment later and started going through her brief case. She'd been in such a rush to get out the door, she'd barley remembered to pack everything she needed. It would take a few hours to get to the _Galactica, _a few for the ceremony, and then the starliner would head back.

She hoped it wouldn't take too long. Serina loved her sister, but she knew that the other woman didn't have any real experience with children. Boxey could be quite the handful sometimes. Her sister was also terrified of dogs. Muffit would be a problem for her.

"_Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain. Welcome aboard. We are on route to Galactica, and our estimated flight time is approximately five and a half hours. Please sit back and relax, and enjoy your flight."_

Checking her bag, Serina made sure that she'd packed her things. To her relief, she found her recorder and her press badge inside. She pulled the badge out, hung it around her neck, and settled back for the flight.

* * *

_"Attention all hands. At this time, Galactica would like to welcome aboard the Secretary of Education, Laura Roslin. The Secretary is a member of the President's cabinet; we're honored by her presence aboard our ship, and her participation this afternoon in Galactica's decommissioning ceremony." _

_Galactica _was beautiful, Serina decided as they docked. The ship had looked grand and majestic from the outside and her inner child was itching to do some exploring. She considered bringing her son to see the Battlestar once it had been officially turned into a museum. She was certain he'd love it.

Sadly, Serina's exploration would have to wait. The minute she stepped out _Galactica's _deck, she and the rest of the reporters were guided off towards a room. The room had been set up for the reporters to take their publicity photos (and to keep them out of the wait, Serina suspected). Having forgotten her camera, Serina lingered in the back of the room.

The assortment of journalists chatted amongst themselves as they waited. Commander Adama and his son were due to arrive soon and until then they were to wait. Serina helped herself to some coffee. About ten minutes later, Serina had already finished her cup of coffee and had started to record her descriptions of the _Galactica _into her recorder, compiling material for her article.

A man in his mid-thirties entered the room, wearing an blue suit and a tie. He introduced himself as Aaron Doral, a public relations executive. "If all of you could just come over here," he directed, guiding the reporters into a clump. Without a camera, Serina settled for perching on the table next to the coffee. McManus would take plenty of shots. Besides, she wanted to focus her article on the history of the _Galactica_.

Commander Adama entered the room. He shook hands with Doral and, ignoring the reporters, moved to the back of the room. Serina smiled. The man obviously did not like journalists. Most people didn't.

Doral spoke to her fellow reporters, giving them a few background details on the _Galactica. _He said nothing that Serina hadn't already learned from her son whom, upon hearing that his mother was attending the decommissioning ceremony, had rattled off everything he knew. "Now we just have to wait for Captain Adama and then we can begin," Doral said. "Oh, here he is. If you'd just like to, ah, put a little space. Captain, thank you for joining us."

Captain Adama moved through the crowd of reporters as Doral spoke. He wore his dress uniform. What he looked like, Serina couldn't discern. His back was turned to her. He entered as silently as his father and she could tell that he was tense.

Doral extended a hand to the Captain. "Hi, Aaron Doral. If you'd just like to stand up there, we'll get a few shots of you and the Commander." Said commander came down from the stage to stand next to his son in front of a podium bearing the _Galactica_'s insignia. Captain Adama stood next to him, ignoring his father's greeting.

When Captain Adama turned around, Serina's breath caught in her throat. Captain Adama was gorgeous. His Caprican sky blue eyes locked on her own brown ones. Serina smiled slightly at the man and was pleased when he smiled back. She looked away with a blush.

Serina had never considered herself to be the timid, schoolgirl type, but couldn't control her reaction. '_It's been a long time,_' she thought and, for a brief second, she thought about Boxey's father.

She hadn't heard from the man lately. Even though they'd divorced, they still spoke from time to time for the sake of their son. He was supposed to have called that morning once he was back from the Armistice station. Serina didn't know if he had.

Serina returned her attention to the front of the room when Doral spoke. "Ahh, okay gentlement, could you maybe stand a bit closer?" They both took a step towards one another. "Fantastic." Doral looked back at the reporters as they snapped their pictures then back at the two Adamas. "Commander, could you put your arm around your son?" The older man hesitated at Doral's request, but did so after a beat. "Great, perfect."

More cameras clicked as Serina slid off the table. Straightening her skirt, she smiled again at the Captain who looked like he was struggling. She didn't know what had happened between the father and son to strain their relationship, and figured it was none of her business anyway. The Captain's eyes flickered between Serina and the multiple cameras.

"Okay, thank you very much. See you at the ceremony," Doral said to the Adamas. He turned to face the group of journalists. "We'll just be leaving this, through this doorway, and, and to our right," Doral said, leading the reporters out of the room. With one last glance at Captain Adama, Serina followed the group.

The PA sounded. "_Attention honor guard detail, report to starboard hanger bay. Honor guard detail, report to starboard hanger bay._"

* * *

_"The Cylon War is long over, yet we must not forget the reasons why so many sacrificed so much in the cause of freedom. The cost of wearing the uniform can be high... [a long pause, Commander Adama looks at the crowd] but sometimes it's too high. You know, when we fought the Cylons, we did it to save ourselves from extinction. But we never answered the question: Why?_

_Why are we as a people worth saving? We still commit murder because of greed, spite, jealousy. And we still visit all of our sins upon our children. We refuse to accept the responsibility for anything that we've done. Like we did with the Cylons. We decided to play the gods, create life._

_When that life turned against us, we comforted ourselves in the knowledge that it really wasn't our fault, not really. You cannot play the gods then wash your hands of the things that you've created. Sooner or later, the day comes when you can't hide from the things that you've done anymore."_

* * *

Standing in front of the mirror, Serina mulled over Commander Adama's speech. _Colonial Heavy 798 _had begun it's return trip to Caprica City shortly after the ceremony had ended. She had seen the man disregard his notecards, deviating from his planned speech, and, while the overall reactions had been mixed, Serina couldn't help but see wisdom in the man's words. Not many took the time to ask such a simple question. Most likely because there was no simple answer.

She did wonder, however, what prompted his speech.

The woman washed her hands in the sink, straightened her hair a bit and adjusted her blouse before leaving the small bathroom. Returning to her seat, Serina busied herself with reviewing the material she had collected. She was halfway through listening to a recording of a deckhand telling her about the work that had gone into turning the _Galactica _into a museum when she looked up and realized the Captain of the ship was in the middle of an announcement.

She pulled off her headphones just in time to hear the tail end of his announcement. "Once again, we are processing the information that we have been given, and I urge you all to try to stay calm. As we get more information, I will pass it along to you. We appreciate your patience. Thank you."

Murmurs of conversation filled the cabin and Serina leaned over to the McManus in the next aisle. "James, what's happening?" she asked.

"Something's wrong," he said with a confused frown. "He said something about not being able to establish radio contact with Caprica."

"Are we in range?"

The man shrugged, "We must be by now."

Serina straightened in her seat, wearing a confused frown of her own. A sense of worry filled her and she gazed out the window at the stars.

When Secretary Roslin made an announcement of her own later that night, Serina's heart stopped cold in her heart. The sense of worry morphed into shock, numbness, and then her worry returned tenfold. '_Boxey' _she thought, her heart beating rapidly in fear at the thought of her son. '_Oh Gods, Boxey._'

Serina prayed then. She prayed that her son and sister were alright, crossing her fingers and mumbling under her breath. "Lords of Kobol, hear my prayer. Please let them be alive. _Please_." She could here others around her saying similar things. Others were shouting out questions to the Secretary.

"Stop. Please, stop," she said, cutting through her voices. "Please, I'm trying to reach the government right now to get more information. In the meantime, we should all be prepared for an extended stay aboard this ship, okay? So, uh, you, please, and you," she pointed at the flight attendants, "take an inventory of the emergency supplies and rations," she instructed.

Doral, having changed from his blue suit, objected. "Wait a minute, who put you in charge?"

Secretary Roslin stared at him for a moment. "Well, that's a good question,," she said, though her tone suggested otherwise. "The answer is no one, but this is a government ship and I am the senior government official, so that puts me in charge. So why don't you help me out, and go down into the cargo area, and see about setting it up as a living space." She turned her back on Doral. "Everyone else, please, please, try and stay calm. Thank you."

* * *

Serina stared out the window at darkness that stretched on and on. Most of the passengers were elsewhere. McManus, she knew, was helping move the "L containers" around in order to make room for survivors. Other ships had already started to show up. Serina could see a few from her seat.

She looked across as Secretary Roslin sat down across from her. The older woman looked exhausted. Serina offered her a tentative smile. "It's good to see you again, Madam Secretary. Just wish it was under better circumstances."

Secretary Roslin looked confused. "I'm sorry, have we met?" she asked.

The brunette nodded. "I interviewed you when you first became the Secretary of Education. Your plans to improve the Colonial education system?" Serina prompted.

Roslin nodded slowly. "That's right. Ms. Boxman." Serina nodded.

She looked over to her right as a man sat down next to her. She recognized him as Captain Adama. Instead of his dress uniform, though, he was wearing a green flight suit. Unlike Roslin and Serina, he sat on the edge of his seat whereas the two women leaned back against the cushions. He smiled at the reporter slightly before turning to the Secretary. "How far down?" he asked. Serina, confused, turned to face the Secretary as well.

The other woman sat silent for a moment before replying. "Forty-third in line of succession," she admitted. "I know all forty-two ahead of me from the President down. Most of us served with him in the first administration." She stared up at the ceiling, lost in her thoughts.

"Some of them came with him from the Mayor's office. I was there with him on his first campaign. I never really liked politics; I kept telling myself I was getting out, but... he had this way about him. Just couldn't say no to him."

The pilot appeared then. In his hand he held a piece of paper. He handed it to the Secretary, it trembled slightly. The Secretary accepted the sheet from the grey-haired man. "Thank you," she whispered after reading it. She sniffed, shrugged off her blanket, and put her jacket back on. "We'll need a priest."

The pilot nodded and the Secretary stood and followed him away. Captain Adama and Serina watched the two disappear in search of the woman from the decommissioning ceremony. Elosha, Serina believed her name was.

"I'm Serina, by the way," Serina said quietly. "Serina Boxman." She held out her hand to the Captain.

He looked at her and then extended his own hand. "Lee Adama." The two shook hands.

* * *

Elosha unrolled her scroll with steady hands. Serina stood next to Captain Adama, to the right and slightly behind Laura Roslin. The reporters on board had pulled out their cameras and their recorders. Serina couldn't bring herself to look at her own. When the priest spoke, she spoke very evenly. Serina envied the woman's calm.

"Please raise your right hand and repeat after me," Elosha began. Roslin did so and Elosha continued, "I, Laura Roslin."

"I, Laura Roslin," she repeated, voice breaking with suppressed tears. After Elosha said it, Roslin repeated, "Do now avow and affirm."

Elosha moved on, "That I take the office of the President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol."

"That I accept the office of the," she stopped. Serina closed her eyes. Thoughts of her sister and son had begun to return to her mind. All forty-two cabinet members before Roslin were gone. What did that mean for the people of the Colonies? How many of them were left? Roslin took a breath then said, "That I accept the office of the President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol."

"And that I will protect and defend the sovereignty of the Colonies."

"And that I will protect and defend the sovereignty of the Colonies."

"With every fiber of my being," Elosha finished.

"With every fiber of my being," Laura Roslin, once Secretary of Education and newly dubbed President of the Colonies, echoed.

Silence.

* * *

**Another Note: I might be a slow updater, but until I say otherwise, all my stories are works in progress. Hope you enjoyed this one! Let me know!**

**On top of taking the _Night Flight _out I intend to work Boxey into this story (and I'm reestablishing Serina as Boxey's mother) as well as another original series character. Hint: it's a woman and it's not Sheba. **


End file.
